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(No' Model.) 4 2SheetsSheet 1.

O. M. CHAMBERLAIN. RUFFLING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MAGHINES.

No. 472,431 PatentedApr. 5, 1892.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' 0. M. CHAMBERLAIN. RUFFLING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 472,431. Patented Apr. 5, 1892.

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ORANGE CHAMBERLAIN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WHEELOCK 85 BRIGHAM, OF SAME PLACE.

RUFFLING MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 472,431, dated April 5, 1892.

Application filed October 26, 1891.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, ORANGE M. CHAMBER- LAIN, of Boston, county of Sufiolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Ruffling Mechanism for Sewing-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters and figures on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object to provide a simple and novel ruffling mechanism by which to ruffle and plait or gather a strip of material and stitch it in place between the edges of a folded band.

In this invention the strip to be ruffled rests upon the bed-plate of the sewing-machine and is acted upon bya ruflier-blade which is moved at the proper times by suitable actuating devices. The band is led through a guiding device substantially like a binder, one part of the guideviz., that carrying the upper edge of the band-lying above the bed-plate, while the lower part of the said guide lies below the bed-plate. The bed-plate or cloth-plate of the machine is slotted just in advance of the feedslot and the needle-hole and between the said feed-slot and the end of the ruffling-blade to permit the under half or edge of the band to come up through the slot in the bed or supporting-plate upon the surface thereof to be engaged by the feeding device, as will be described.

Figure 1 in side'elevation represents a sewing-machine of the Willcox & Gibbs pattern and to which my improved ruffling mechanism is shown as applied. Fig.2 is a partial longitudinal section taken in a horizontal plane through the main shaft of the machine and its attached gearing employed when the ruffling device is to be reciprocated out of time With relation to the needle movement, as when the plaits or ruffles are to be long, a number of the stitches being taken to each complete throw of the ruffler-blade. Fig. 3 shows in plan view a piece of ruftl'mg such as may be made upon the machine to be herein described; Fig. 4,a cross-section of the said ruffling; Fig. 5, an edge View thereof. Fig. 6 is a partial front elevation ofthe machine shown in Fig.

Fig. 7 is a section to the left of the dotted Serial No. 409,813. (No model.)

line as, Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a detail showing a portion of the bed-plate or cloth-support with the feed-opening and needle-hole therein, the said figure also showing the slot through which rises the under edge of the band.

The frame-work A, having an overhanging arm A, the needle-bar A having an eyepointed needle a, the needle-actuating lever A the main shaft A the feed-bar A having a feed-dog A, the presser-foot A and its carrying-bar A are and may be all substantially as in the VVillcoX & Gibbs machine, the said machine in practice having a suitable hook or loop-taker actuated by the main shaft A to co-operate with the eye-pointed needle and form stitches. I have omitted the hook from the drawings to avoid confusion of lines.

While I show the stitch-forming mechanism as of the Willcox dc Gibbs pattern, this invention is notlimited or intended to be limited to the exact form of the stitch-forming mechanism.

The bed-plate or cloth-support B has the usual feed-slot b, in which works the serrated portion of the feed-dog A and the said support also has a needle-hole, as b, all as sh own.

Aside from these openings the bed-plate is so cut away in front of the feed-opening referred to as to leave a slot, as 19 which issubstantially at right angles to the direction of the movement of the material with the feed, andIhavealsoshownthesaidsupporting-plate as provided with a second slot b to receive one end of the guide G, and preferably at the inner end of the slot 1) I make an opening I), through which may rise an auxiliary point 5 carried by a plate 19 herein represented as attached by a screw b to the regular feed-bar A the said auxiliary feeding-point moving in unison with the regular feeding-dog and engaging, and preferably penetrating, the material between the end of the feeding-dog and front end of the ruffling-blade d.

The guide C in cross-section represents an ordinarybinding-guide of the so-called Douglas type,it being a metal guide shaped at its outer end to receive the band d (see Figs. 3 and 4.) in a substantially flat side, the guide being folded more or less upon itself toward its delivery end near the presser-foot to fold the band upon itself, and preferably the guide will have its edges so shaped as to inturn the ends of the band, as represented in Fig. l. The slot 1) receives a medium portion of the guide, the upper portion of the guide terminating at 2, substantially in contact with the forward end of the upturned toe of the presserfoot or a plate 3, attached to the under side of the presser-foot. The under edge of the guide is extended forward under the bed-plate or c-lotl1-snpport, as best shown in Fig. (hand terminates at the point at quite close to the slot 11 so that the lower edge or half of the band may leave the said guide and be led up through the said slot 1) between the forward or free end of the ruiiiing-blade (Z and the feedin g device.

The material to be ruttled is laid upon the bed-plate or cloth-support and is acted upon directly by the milling-blade, and the under side of the band is in no way strained or interfered with, as is the case when the material to be rut'lled rests upon a part of the band, and the rufliing-blade has to push the milled material forward over and in contact with a portion of the band. The ruining-blade (Y, shaped in any usual manner at its forward end, preferably downturned and provided with teeth, is attached by suitable screws (Z to one end of an elbow-lever (Z pivoted at (Z a horizontally-extended arm of the said lever, as (1 being acted upon by a suitable cam, as (F, actuated or timed to rotate at the desired speed, according to the number of stitches it is desired to make by the stitch-forming mechanism to each reciprocation of the millerblade. In this present instance of my invention the cam (Z is loose on the main shaft A and the said cam has connected to or forming part of it a toothed gear f, which is engaged and rotated by a pinion f, (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 7, full lines, Fig. l, and in section, Fig. 2,) mounted loosely on a stud f parallel to the main shaft, the said pinionf' in this instance of my invention having an elongated hub, upon which is fastened a toothed pinion f", which is engaged and rotated by the pinion f splined or keyed upon the main shaft A. It is obvious by changing the diameter of the pinions and gears just referred to the speed of the cam (Z may be made more or less-i. 6., the main shaft A may be made to rotate as many times as desired while the cam (Z is rotated once.

The ruflier-blade (I has attached to its upper side a loop g, having an inclined slot or opening, one part of the said loop resting upon a pin or stud 9, extended horizontally from an upright 1 connected to a stand 9 in turn connected with and extended laterally from the feed-bar. The ruftler-blade is moved backwardly by a suitable spring, as 7L, acting upon the arm (1, while the feed-bar is rising in its forward stroke to engage the material, and during this movement of the feed-bar through the devices 1 g g and theloop gthe free end of the ruitling-blade is removed from the material being rufiled, so as to avoid any fric tion thereof which would tend to pullthe material backwardly in opposition to the direction of the feed.

The length of the stroke of the ruftlingblade may be determined by the adjustingscrew in in the stand m, and the height to which the rni'iling'blade is lifted on its backward stroke by or through the stud g may be regulated by adjusting the stud vertically in the upright 9 a thumb-nut m being screwed onto the threaded end of the studand the upright 9 being slotted for this purpose. The studf is extended from a stand f herein represented as attached to the machine by a screw 10.

In this invention it will be noticed that by using the stiff cloth plate or support to sustain the strip to be rul'lled the number of parts required for the production of a bandru'l'tle is reduced to the minimum and the band not stretched or strained at its under portion in advance of the feed device or between the feed device and the operator,which is of the gist of this invention. The cloth plate or support may be in one or more pieces and be so shaped as to leave a suitable slot or opening for the under half of the band.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The cloth-plate having the feedopening, a needle-opening, and a band-slot substantially at right angles to the direction of the feed of the material, and a feeding device combined with a rufl'ler-blade and devices to move it to engage the material lying on the elotlrplate and rutlle or lay the same in plaits combined with a band-folding guide, the upper part of which is located above the clothplate, while the under side and end thereof are located below the cloth-plate near said bandslot, whereby the lower part of the band may be led up through the said slot between the free or actuating end of the milling-blade and the feeding device, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The cloth-plate provided with a feedopening, a needle-hole, and a band-slot near the feeding-opening, a presser-foot, a millerblade to act on the strip to be ruffled, said strip lying on the cloth-plate, means to move the rulller-blade, a feeding device having an upright, a pin and yoke to act in lifting the ru'fller-blade from the strip during the return stroke of the said blade, and a folding-guide to direct, fold, and deliver a band, substantiall y as described.

The cloth-plate provided with a feedopening, a needle-hole, and a band-slot near the feeding-opening, a prcsser-foot, a millerblade to act on the strip to be ruflled, said strip lying on the cloth-plate, means to move the rui'tler-blade, a feeding device, an auxiliary feeding device carried by and moving in In testimony whereof I have signed my IO name to this specification in the presence of tWo subscribing witnesses.

ORANGE M. CHAMBERLAIN.

WVitncsses: Y

FREDERICK L. EMERY, EMMA J. BENNETT. 

